The Big Track Your Guide to Nottingham's Waterside Car Free Route
The Big Track Your guide to Nottingham’s waterside car free route A60 Mansfield R
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Attenborough Attenborough Station Nature Centre Welcome to The Big Track
Ten miles of pure walking it could also change your life! and cycling pleasure… The Big Track will help you unwind and go with the flow. You might also You can use the Big Track to get start to appreciate the little things in around the city on foot or by bike. life - like spotting a heron, chatting It goes all the way from Trent to a walker or just enjoying the great Bridge to Beeston Lock, with the outdoors. city centre in between, so you can pop up at all sorts of places, If you’ve used the Big Track before, like the football clubs and cricket there have been some improvements ground, the Broadmarsh Centre, to the track itself - see page 30 for Nottingham Train Station or details of what’s new. We’ve tried to Castle Marina. make the map easy to use, with exit and entrance points marked on the If you want to de-stress - or maybe main and smaller maps, along with lose a few pesky pounds - The Big links to the National Cycle Network’s Track runs past loads of workplaces Route 6. and is a great way of getting to the office. Or if you just fancy a saunter However you use the Big Track - for for a pint or a cuppa, you’re definitely getting to work, to the shops, or just on the right track. The Big Track for a leisurely weekend stroll - you’ll brings some big benefits - making be making the most of what’s on your getting fit and feeling good really doorstep, getting some exercise and simple - and, like the best things in doing your bit for the environment by life, it’s free. leaving the car at home.
But beware - the Big Track might not So what are you waiting for? just change the way you get around -
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Your body, Your transport system
You’re in charge of the world’s dramatically lower your chances best transport system - your body. of heart disease, diabetes and some It doesn’t cost anything to get you forms of cancer. And it’s good for your from A to B and the more you use brain too, as exercise reduces stress it, the better it will be. and gives you more energy.
We all look and feel better when we’re There are other ways that the Big moving a bit of muscle. The heart Track could tip the scales in your is the most important muscle in the favour. If you’re 60kg, or 9 ½ stones, human body and it needs exercise a brisk 30 minute walk burns up 150 so that it can pump blood effectively calories and if you’re heavier you use with each beat. Around a third of up even more. people say they would walk more if there were better facilities - and they Cycling gets through lots of calories don’t come much better than this. and if you’re worried that the air near With 7 out of 10 of us not getting roads may be a little stale - don’t be. enough exercise and nearly half of us Car drivers breathe in far more traffic overweight the Big Track offers the fumes than walkers or cyclists - so perfect solution - a ten mile waterside there’s even more reason to get out gym right on your doorstep! and about and enjoy the fresh air.
Believe it or not, a quarter of all our trips are one mile or less, which for most people can easily be covered on foot. In addition, three quarters of all personal journeys are less than five miles - just half an hour by bike. Those thirty minutes could hardly be better spent. Just half an hour’s exercise, five times a week, can
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The Big Track time trip the history of the Trent Valley Written by local historian Chris Matthews People have always used water for summer strolling - perfect for to find their way, by boat, on ladies holding parasols! horseback or by foot. The Big Track follows some forgotten routes Further west, tall reeds and shallow along the Trent Valley that trace pools remind us of how the Meadows much of Nottingham’s history. would once have looked. There are more macabre reminders of the The Big Track is a trip through time river’s power, too. Within St Wilfred’s as well as space. If you start by the churchyard there is an 18th century canal you can imagine the coal being mortuary, used for bodies washed up hauled from boats at Castle Wharf to by the Trent’s fearsome currents. fuel the swelling town as the Industrial Revolution started. Bleach works, Following the river, as invaders once leather tanners and lace factories did, you reach a Saxon landscape. were built here, all feeding off the Around 730 AD a Germanic tribe water in Tinker’s Leen. The canal also sailed down the Trent and settled on borders the Meadows and Eastcroft a high place they called Clifton, or areas - agricultural names for pasture Cliff Farm. lands where animals used to graze. This pastoral scene became an As you turn back towards industrial landscape after the Midland Nottingham along the canal, local Counties railway cut through it in 1839. industry becomes global in the 20th century with international To the south you can still see the modernist architecture at Boots and remains of the medieval Hethbeth nearby Players. Coming back to the Bridge - low, narrow and no doubt Castle the canal flows with you - a terrifying to cross when the river watercourse which has long served ran high. Along the Embankment the needs of humans, it was diverted you enter the later years of Queen from Lenton by William the Conqueror Victoria’s reign when prosperity to defend, equip and drive the mills of brought new pleasures for the middle his forbidding cliff top fortress. classes who built wide promenades
www.thebigwheel.org.uk 7 Nottingham canal wharfs, 1 warehouses & Tinkers Leen
Started in 1796, the canal was built to link Nottingham to the coal mines of the Erewash valley to the north and the markets of Grantham to the south. The warehouse of carriers Fellows, Morton and Clayton, now a pub (see Waterfront bars), still has a crane for lifting goods from the boats.
Heading south along London Road, the former lace factory, Hicking Ltd, is now an apartment block. Turneys Quay, Fellows Morton & Clayton canal carriers depot, just before Trent Bridge, has been now the Canal House pub turned into apartments too. It was a “At its time the canal provided a great huge leather dressing works that you outlet for the colliery owners. When the could get to by canal, river and road, railways came they saw an opportunity and that’s why they came to the same although only the roadside building still point in Nottingham as the canal” survives. You can see the oldest bridge Andy Smart, on the canal next to Iremonger Road. Bygones Editor M Broadmarsh Cliff Rd a M i d Shopping Centre a
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www.thebigwheel.org.uk 9 Trent Bridge & 2 Hethbeth Bridge
The word Trent is an old English word for trespasser, here meaning a river that often flooded its banks and changed course. Hethbeth Bridge was the medieval causeway. From the remnant that survives you can see how low and near the powerful currents it must have been. It had a history of collapsing too - which can’t have been reassuring for the kings, queens and their followers who edged Victorian Trent Bridge across it on horseback or in carriages. “There didn’t used to be a midlands in the Middle Ages, England was divided into Today’s bridge was built in 1877 by “The Royal Forests South of the Trent” the Nottingham Corporation. Between and “The Royal Forests North of the Trent”. 1924 and 1926 its width was doubled to cope with the growth in traffic. Adrian Woodhouse Historian
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Following the construction of a new bridge you can now follow the canal right down to the river and directly access Victoria Embankment. When travelling in the other direction along the River, continue under Trent Bridge, carry along next to the River where you will be able to cross the canal and continue towards the City Centre along the canal.
www.thebigwheel.org.uk 11 Victoria Embankment, 3 Parks & Gardens
Nottingham has a long history of In 1901 the Victoria Embankment enjoying itself. And the riverbank has provided a setting for more long been an area for fun and games. amusement. The boat clubs, tree- In the Middle Ages it was reputed to lined roads, war memorial, gardens be one of the best open spaces in and suspension bridge are all ideal England. In the eighteenth century for promenading - seeing and being locals played football, early morning seen. The park west of Wilford Grove cricket and raced each other on was bought by the Nottingham Shrove Tuesday. By the end of the Corporation with money raised from 19th century sport had become the sale of land for the new Midland regularised. Nottingham’s biggest Station. sports clubs - Forest, County and Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club, as well as the rowing clubs, are still nearby, which means that Nottingham people continue to come down to the river for their recreation.
The suspension bridge, originally built in 1906 to carry water to Wilford Hill Reservoir.
“The Captain of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club was William Clarke, landlord of the Bell Inn. He married the lady who kept the Trent Bridge Inn in 1837. He then created a fence around the field at the back of the pub and started a cricket ground.”
Peter Wynn Thomas, Nottingham County Cricket Club Head Librarian
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The bridge was built by the Clifton There is a statue of Sir Robert Clifton, family in 1870 to pay off their debts. a popular Liberal MP during the Before that a chain ferry was hauled nineteenth century when Nottingham across the river, carrying goods, was famous throughout England for animals and people to the meadows, its riotous and radical politics, in the as the seventeenth century Ferry days before the private ballot. Inn reminds us. Queen’s Walk in the Meadows, which goes from the Toll Bridge to Nottingham, is a Victorian promenade designed as a recreation walkway for the working class.
The Ferry Inn
“Big Track is an ideal route to watch wildlife, there’s always something to see. Look out for swans, salmon and Great crested grebe diving for fish.”
Erin McDaid Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust
Right: Statue of Sir Robert Clifton - Strand magazine called this, “the worst pair of sculptured trousers in England.” From the bridge you can cut across the Big Track using Birdcage Walk which will bring you out by Games Workshop near to the canal, creating a shorter five mile circuit in either direction.
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Beneath the shadow of the medieval church of St Wilfrid’s are magnificent carved slate headstones and an 18th century gazebo. This curious structure was built to enjoy views of the Trent. Its ground floor was also used as a mortuary for bodies washed up by the river. Wilford’s tall grass, pools of water and flat, marshy landscape remind us of how the Meadows would have looked before the land was enclosed in the 1840s. Before the industrial revolution Wilford was a successful agricultural community. You can tell this from the number of old farm buildings, Queen Anne-style rectory and ornate slate headstones.
St Wilfrid’s Church
“Years ago we used to wade in the river at Wilford while we were fishing, because
Eighteenth century Farm buildings the water from the power station was so warm.” (not recommended!)
David Turner Nottingham Anglers Association
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When heading into town along the river take the short quiet lane at the end of the University sports pitches. Follow this lane and just before a large bend to the left turn right to rejoin the Trent and go under the A52 flyover. This path will take you through to the Queens Drive section of path; at the top of the ramped exit turn right and head towards Victoria Embankment. When heading out of town towards Beeston Marina along the shared use path (next to Queens Drive) look out for the wooden post indicating the left turn back down to the riverside path. Go down the ramp at this point and follow the path until you go under the A52 flyover. Continue under the flyover but head to your right towards the road; there is a post pointing in this direction. Join the quiet lane and then bear left to rejoin the riverside paths at the University sports pitches.
www.thebigwheel.org.uk 17 Clifton Hall & 6 St Mary’s Church
The river runs in almost a straight line, a region of arable farming. Beeston directed by the cliff on the southern means long grass farm, while the bank. The ancient part of Clifton got Rylands once housed narrow furlong its name from the cliffs where the fields for growing rye. medieval church of St Mary stands today. Next to the church is one of the “Attenborough Nature Centre is a very county’s finest 18th century houses, modern building, made from sustainable Clifton Hall. There is a small wharf wood, steel, solar panels on the roof and below it designed to take coal to a heat pump in the lake - which of course markets in the south of the county. you can’t see. Even the paint is non vinyl eco-friendly.”
The landscape becomes flat here, Louise Buckley, Attenborough Nature at the centre of the Trent Valley, often Centre Manager
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1 Mile markers (from Trent Bridge)
Ramped access www.thebigwheel.org.uk 19 Non-ramped access
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Cycle parking Boots Offices 7 D90
From the canal you can see the Boots complex, housing a company that began life in the late 19th century on Nottingham’s Goose Gate. By the 20th century the company had become international, and the style “This is my favorite time of day by the of architecture here reflects its canal - just as the sun is going down transformation. The Boots D90 offices when everybody’s gone home from were designed by the American team work.” of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. The surrounding area showcases other Don Attenborough, Dunkirk Resident 20th century industries, including and Canal Boat enthusiast. the Players Horizon factory. (below) Don Attenborough’s Boat and mooring - decorated from art students’ final year projects from Nottingham Trent University.
Tree near Boots
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www.thebigwheel.org.uk 21 Nottingham Castle 8 & the River Leen
The River Leen was diverted into the In 1831 during the Goose Fair, Trent in the 11th century. William the riots broke out and the people of Conqueror built a castle high on the Nottingham set fire to the Duke’s sandstone rock to control the region. mansion. The Duke, a member of The new watercourse was an extra the House of Lords, was influential in defence, a route for supplies - and it defeating the Reform Bill which would powered the Castle’s mills. have given the vote to poorer people. After the castle’s restoration it became The Castle became the Duke of England’s first municipal museum Newcastle’s property in 1663. He of art. Castle Boulevard, running created a mansion reminiscent of alongside the canal, was built after the stately designs in Italy or Prague, Extension Act of 1877. This allowed following the fashion created by Nottingham to build on land called the Grand Tours of Europe after a King’s Meadows, creating tree-lined young nobleman’s formal education boulevards - Lenton, Radford and had ended. The stone is distinctly Gregory - encircling the old town. less glamorous, being largely local sandstone from Trowell and Mansfield.
The Ducal mansion, on the site of Nottingham Castle Link to Castle Boulevard
“The Inland Revenue building by Michael Hopkins was ground breaking for Nottingham. It was an eco-friendly futuristic design, which relates to the Castle and encouraged world class architects to come to the city.”
Julian Owen, Architect
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www.thebigwheel.org.uk 23 The Really Wild Show
Nottingham’s waterways are teaming with wildlife. See what you can spot on your Big Track trip. Then why not got to the Attenborough Nature Centre, Cormorant just off the Track, to check if you were right.
Moorhen
Red throated diver
Dragonfly Grey Wagtail
Stickleback Kingfisher Damselfly
Brassy minnow
Pike Rudd Gudgeon Mute swan Heron
Goosander
Canada goose Mallard
Great crested grebe Stickleback
Goldeneye rintoul
Pike
www.thebigwheel.org.uk 25 Why walk?
Because walking for 20 minutes Because it keeps you young - walking uses as much energy as 17 minutes helps back pain, joint pain, brittle weight training. And it’s much, much bones and osteoporosis - and by more fun than pumping iron. You can staying active some of the symptoms cover 3-4 miles an hour by walking of ageing can be avoided, or even briskly - and by doing just half of that reversed. you’ll be getting the recommended daily amount of exercise needed to Because you might meet someone keep you healthy. Not to mention the you know - or someone you’d like to fact that walking reduces your blood get to know. A third of all journeys are pressure, strengthens muscles and on foot, so there are a lot of people to bones and helps you to lose weight. bump into. And that means you’ll reduce your chances of getting all sorts of nasty Because it’s simple. Open your door, illnesses such as heart disease, step out - and off you go. There’s a osteoporosis and diabetes. great big open air gym out there and it won’t cost you a penny to use it! Because it’s better for your lungs - if you’re sitting in a car you’re breathing in up to three times as much pollution as pedestrians.
Because it’s going to make you happier. No really, doctors say that walking actually reduces stress levels because it releases lots of feel-good chemicals called endorphins. On top of which, you’ll sleep better at night and, as your blood pumps through your body faster, your brain will get more oxygen helping you to think more clearly. So it’s not hard to see how walking can help you to cope with stress and to take life’s little annoyances in your stride. Why cycle?
Because regular cyclists stay younger Because, unlike a car, you aren’t longer - cycling acts like that elusive giving off any greenhouse gases, elixir of youth - giving cyclists the just a big warm glow to the world. fitness levels of people 10 years Because if you cycle into your younger! mid-30s you’re going to add at least an extra two years to your life. Because it’s great for your health, raising your heart rate and helping Because your body is going to look to protect you against illness and better. Yes it is. We promise you. disease. According to government Cycling burns at least 300 calories targets, cycling is exactly the type an hour - a chocolate bar or two of moderate physical exercise that glasses of wine - while a 15-minute we should take part in for at least 30 bike ride to and from work each day minutes five times a week. burns off the equivalent of 11 pounds of fat per year. Because you can boost your aerobic fitness by 17% in just six weeks by Because you’re in good company. cycling 4 miles a day - that will take There are a billion other bicycles in the you less than half an hour a day. world - twice the amount of cars. Trips on the National Cycle Network rose by Because it’s a great stress-buster. 15% in 2005 to 232 million journeys, Regular exercise helps your body while commuter trips have doubled in to fight stress hormones and their recent years. negative impact. It also lowers your blood pressure, increases your immunity and can even help you to sleep better at night.
www.thebigwheel.org.uk 27 Big Sound Track
To accompany the The Big Track we’ve produced an audio tour of the past, present and future of the canal-side Trent Valley region. Presented by Tom Whalley and Chris Matthews, it features history and interviews with people who use the area and is accompanied by a sound track featuring local bands and artists.
It’s not only free, but it’s really easy to get hold of!
All you need to do to download the Big Sound Track is to go to www.thebigwheel.org.uk and click on the Big Track link. From there click on tracks and download the mp3 file onto your mp3 player or ipod - and off you go with your audio accompaniment to the Big Track!
In association with NotinNottingham and Via Vaudeville! www.notinnottingham.com www.viavaudeville.com Making the most of the Big Track
As you can see on pages 24 and 25, If you’re on a bike, slow down and the Big Track is teeming with wildlife ring your bell to let people know and offers a brilliant opportunity to you’re there. Or say excuse me when enjoy the great outdoors. The other you pass pedestrians or fishermen. good thing about the Big Track is that If you’re walking, why not say a it’s totally car-free, making it a safe cheery hello as you pass someone place for walkers and cyclists to enjoy. else and try not to block the path in order to make room for bikes. After During the warmer spring and all, in Nottingham we’re famed for summer months the Big Track can our friendliness! get quite busy with cyclists and pedestrians taking advantage of the warmer weather and using it to commute into work or for a weekend stroll or cycle. There’s enough space on the Big Track for everyone, but observing a few courtesies can make all the difference.
www.thebigwheel.org.uk 29 Check out our track record
The Big Track is brought to you The Big Track runs near to The Hub by the Big Wheel, the campaign (Nottingham Train Station). Buses to promote Greater Nottingham’s connect with it at the Station, Trent transport network. We represent Bridge, and the Park & Ride, too. Nottingham City Council, Check out our journey planners at Nottinghamshire County Council, www.thebigwheel.org.uk the Greater Nottingham Partnership, and a whole host of companies and Greater Nottingham has every reason organisations with an interest in how to feel proud of its track record. There we all get around. are many signs that we are starting to turn transport around. The amount There have been some recent of traffic on our roads has remained improvements to the Big Track. A new steady over the last 5 years, while secure cycle compound has been there are millions more journeys by built at Nottingham Train Station and bus and tram. the canal bridge at Castle Marina has been upgraded to make it suitable for But we do need to do more to help cycles, pedestrians and wheelchairs. people walk and cycle - not just for Additionally, improvements at Victoria their own sakes, but for the sake of Embankment mean that there is now the planet too. The Big Track is a a direct link between the canal paths major walking and cycling route for and the embankment paths at Trent Greater Nottingham. More will follow. Bridge, making navigation of the Big Track at this point much easier. The Big Track is part of the Trent River Park project - a wider initiative to As you can see, all sorts of regenerate the riverside and open it organisations have worked together up for everyone to enjoy. around the Big Track, representing health, the arts and nature, as well as N.B. The waters of the River Trent are highly dangerous with strong currents, and on no account public sector organisations. should swimming in them ever be attempted.
The Big Wheel and its partners want to make it easier to get around - by bringing together bus, tram and train routes, together with walking and cycling. And we want to make life healthier, by leaving cars at home whenever we can. 30 Printed on recycled paper
www.thebigwheel.org.uk 31 Find out more: The Big Wheel www.thebigwheel.org.uk www.triptimes.co.uk www.traveline.org.uk
Health www.getmovingnottingham.nhs.uk www.bhf.org.uk
Cycling www.sustrans.org.uk www.ctc.org.uk www.bikeforall.net www.pedals.org.uk www.bottombracket.co.uk www.ridewise.org.uk www.britishwaterways.co.uk www.nottscc.gov.uk/bikeride
Walking Nottingham City Best Foot Forward [email protected] www.whi.org.uk www.thebigwheel.org.uk/walkweek
Nature www.wildlifetrust.org.uk/nottinghamshire www.attenboroughnaturecentre.co.uk
For cycle maps of Nottingham please visit www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/transport_and_streets.htm or contact Keith Morgan at Nottingham City Council on 0115 915 5054
For cycle maps in the County, including West Bridgford and Beeston email [email protected], phone 08449 808080, Minicom 01623 434 993